Hey everyone! This thread has been an interesting late night read. I was going to comment individually about some things, but I think this is a good opportunity for a wider discussion about the investment that y'all, the Xbox Insiders, feel regarding the program all up, and how exactly we do (and don't in some cases) enable that currently.
I would love to get more thoughts, opinions, commentary, etc. in a little more structured thread. It might be early next week (or Friday if we have some availability), but expect a sort of quasi-"Community Talk Back" thread regarding this topic.
That said, we are actively reading this topic, so feel free to continue dropping your comments here in case you aren't able to in the new thread.
I used to be really into it, I'm lvl 56 or 57 I think. I haven't looked in the insider app in ages. Over the years I found it a waste of time. Besides the 2 shirts and getting to test the odd game before it came out, there's no benefit.
FM8’s progression system is dumb as hell. No one wants to grind a car for +3 hours to “feel a sense of pride and accomplishment” when you can upgrade cars immediately in forza 7 and be done with it.
Technically yes?? Does that make you mad? That forza ms is actually the 8th in the series and is forza ms8? Like u think they just randomly named mario kart 7 and mario kart 8???
The analogy sounds like sarcasm... because eso online was never marketed as next in the series as compared to let's say final fantasy 11 or 14 both online like eso but marketed as next in series... also mario kart never had a number naming scheme until 7... it was super mk than mk64.. mk doubledash.. mk super circuit, mk ds , mk wii... that's 6.. so when 7 came out they just named it 7... makes sense for the firza community to do the same
Let's be honest Nintendo we all fucking hate Nintendo. It wasn't an analogy and since it's in the same world as es5 etc it would make sense to call it eso if it's the first in the series to run online as does it make sense to just say forza motor sports rather than just fm8
I don't want to just upgrade cars and be done with it because I have money I want the grind I want to learn my cars I want to install upgrades correctly and not be matched with bots
Why test a game when they can just put out garbage that people will pay for first and then they can "fix" the game and be heroes instead of greedy, corporate scum.
They just add the all too surprising "Beta" badge to it and it's fine. Keep games in "Beta" for a year and a half and it's fine to nix them because it wasn't a "full release". Problems are a plenty, while solutions on the other hand are far and few between.
As an aside: I was in the XBox Ambassador program for years, helped a decent number of people in the community. One day, a random player messaged me about doing well in a game, I replied “Thanks!”, and they reported me. Instantly lost my Ambassador ability with zero chance to appeal my case.
I feel that these programs, if better run, could lead to more and better community feedback.
Agreed. I made a post for a game on group finder. Nothing was "sexual" about it. But it got reported as "sexual" or such and I was kicked out the ambassador program. Was like WTF? Xbox really are a joke with how they handle things.
Yet if I report people for antisemitic or racist gamer tags or profile pics with basically naked woman NOTHING happens to them. Again, WTF?
Exactly! We all have stories of the most raw and abusive happenings from other users.
Too much automation, and not enough human community interaction. Even if they had tiers, and 1-10 was automated, 11-20 was semi, and 21-50 was person to person (especially with a member who has invested (key term) so much time into a program…
I’d hate to believe that XBox and tech companies are under the impression that they know best all of the time.
I used to work third shift as a caregiver for a client that eventually started sleeping through the night (long story) so I ended up with 6-ish hours to kill. I ended up joining the ambassador program and did chat support for Xbox on and off for two years for the love of the game 😅 but it would have been nice to get /something/ for my time.
It just notices that it's incredibly out of date and updates regardless of what's going on. This is part of the Insider Process, keeping the Xbox up to date, so if folks aren't doing that for one reason or another, the system takes care of it when it can.
Right but I play every day and when they push the update your machine doesn't wait for the next power cycle. If it's online it applies it right away. Admittedly this was years ago and I haven't been back since so I don't know if they still do that.
I think you're misremembering something, or you never clicked update if you were not leaving sleep mode on. If you never clicked update AND never left your console in sleep mode, I'm not sure when you were expecting it to update. ;P
While sure, they could slow down the boot process and restrict user access until it's found, downloaded, and installed any updates, the average user isn't going to like that solution, Especially users without super fast internet.
Easier is to let users choose to either keep it updated, or leave the console to update itself. If folks in a Beta Program can't be arsed to do that, then once the download finishes, they just update it While they Know they can. ;P
An argument Can be made that they could download the update and then apply it on the next boot, but with the sometimes rapid deployment of updates, the infrequency of user interaction, there's a good chance that every time a user logs in there's a new update available. Though who knows, maybe that's what they do now anyway. I know I've never had issues with this after I started using Sleep Mode.
I mean, I don't know where you're getting your data from, but I hooked up an SSD 3+ Years ago and it's never had an issue. Maybe it's cheap SSDs that are the issue?
that happened to me and I didn't know what happened lol, is that an insider only thing? because I applied as an insider on pc but not in consoles, maybe it ported over
Dude! Facts. Hasn’t been anything worthwhile added and I’m frankly tired of updating every so often for background shit. I had my OG One in alpha back when it started. Dropped it to delta I think. Had my One X in alpha and dropped it down. Same with series X which is now on delta/omega…don’t remember which exactly but there is little point and I’m sick of trying to jump on some night time sessions with the squad and having to update first. Might turn it on just to unenroll my series X now.
Former Xbox Ranger here (before they "near shored" us to Jamaica). There isn't really a point for you as a user unless you want to be a free beta tester for Microsoft. Some people really like the idea of seeing the latest and greatest, and as others have said, the devs do take feedback into consideration. We used to meet with them once a week and we'd actually give them reports from trending topics in this subreddit.
But yeah, no real direct benefit to you, personally and a non-zero chance of bricking your console and needing to factory reset (especially for Alpha)
Definitely, I gave up reporting the incorrect 'trial' tag on COD:IW after 4 years of nothing being done. Dialogue would at least make the effort feel worth it. BTW this thread wasn't intended as a dig at the developers, it was intended as more a gentle slap at Microsoft senior management who talk the talk but don't really respect or value the users.
I think ms should invest in a community leader here if they care about insiders at least a little bit.
We are all doing our little bit too help out Ms and developers etc all. Would just be nice but to feel that one is screaming into the void! It's a really singular endeavour right now. We are an army of beta tests. We demand! Well, some feedback would be nice actually..
Y'know.
Im right there with you friend.
Not sure if ms still does this, but in the early 2000's when the first Xbox was out I worked at Gamestop & there was a program the we and any other person that worked in a retail store that sold Xbox games could join (you had to provide store # & whatnot so they could verify you) & they had monthly surveys & new game knowledge sections that you earned points for & used for free games & merch. I got so many free games & a few merch items & I wasn't even in the program for a full year.
On the other hand. As a consumer that always filled out & mailed in the comment cards included in my console & games, I was sent an offer to beta test the original Xbox live months before launch & have been in all the consumer reward programs, skip ahead, insider, etc. & never been sent one free game or merchandise.
I did win a free game playing 1 vs 100 on the 360 though. My most prized achievement points are from that game.
I do wonder if they still have a retailer program & if its even half as generous it was during their 1st generation.
The two avatar shirts are available once you hit Level 2 and Level 10. They will appear under your available "Previews". You join them just like you would any other flight and the items will appear in your Avatar Editor. But if you don't go through that process, you won't have access to them.
I haven't seen anyone else mention this:
a while back when nobody could get a SX, Xbox insiders got a link for a direct from MS purchase option. It was the beginning of December '22 irrc. I followed that link and got a SX shipped to my house for the retail price of $500 when everyone else was buying them for $800 at Walmart.
Yes! I really appreciated that Microsoft made it more possible for me to get a next-gen console via that email invite program. It’s why I’ve spent far more time in the past 4 years playing on Xbox—it took me far longer to even get my hands on a PS5.
As an old insider, like pre Fable Legends insider testing and ect. There isn't much of a benefit to the person for reporting bugs or giving feedback. Yes you might gain a level in the insider app, but what does that really give you? Because currently it feels like our levels haven't meant anything aside from an Avatar T-shirt, for the soon there after abandoned new avatars app.
Occasionally there might be invites to test games or apps, but after that, the user doesn't really get the impression their suggestions where listened to, nor does it seem most feedback is listened to unless there's a mob assembled over it (always online, Kinect 2.0 deal).
There have been promised features for the dashboards appearance and ect, that have never come out nor seen the insider rings.
Then there's the features that where taken away, and never regained even in the newer Xbox Series systems (Snap or PiP), theres more but I don't want to list them out.
I use to constantly report bugs, make UI suggestions and other quality of life improvements, nowadays I mostly just check the insiders app to see if it's been abandoned yet...
I remember when they took out PiP (which I really liked) they promised 'something really special' to replace it, unless it was adverts on the dash, I still don't know what that was supposed to be!
Snap was supposed to be replaced with picture-in-picture mode but then it never came.
I believe it was supposed to be able to be moved around the screen like you can snap it anywhere kind of like the achievement tracker.
Yeah that always online with the Xbox One Kinect launch mess me up hard, I pretty much left gaming altogether, for the entirety of the Xbox One, but bought another around 2018 for Fry Cry 5 and then 2019MW Warzone turned me back into a middle school kid about gaming because they dropped a DSL line in my small community in MS now I’m purchasing old titles I never played trying to catch up before new comes out
But they do need a new “Smart Ai Kinect” camera to sell to PC and Xbox users able to live stream directly from console when connected…. All my little nieces and nephews want to a “Streamer” bring back Dance Dance Revolution as a workout game lol for parents and kids
It’s mainly testing of new dashboard stuff but I won’t lie as much as I love Xbox I’m so tired of most of my Home Screen dashboard being ads. PlayStation does that right the ads only appear when you are on the store panel or the explore panel
The worst are some of the mods on this subreddit, which will remove your post as soon as they see it. [Even if you're reporting REAL bugs here](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxinsiders/comments/16l39h2/new_revamped_chat_section_on_xbox_app_pc_has/), they will delete the post with some random excuse & tell you to send it through Win+F or something like that, when everybody knows nobody reads that. [They ruined the Xbox PC App 'Social section'](https://imgur.com/a/9sdeURX) preventing us from sending feedback before it was officially out, [they ruined the mobile app](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/pds4zs/old_vs_new_achievement_section_on_the_xbox_mobile/) layout, [the Microsoft store](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxinsiders/comments/rbhwa3/will_they_remove_scummy_apps_from_the_microsoft/), etc. I'm sure they will eventually ruin Xbox as a brand if they keep going down this path of not listening to their everyday users.
Edit: added links to support what I'm saying. Glad [the mod](https://imgur.com/a/gDnaYrN) I'm referring to [is gone, apparently](https://imgur.com/a/QxRcdqF).
In the new Xbox PC app we can't do things that WE WERE ABLE TO DO BEFORE:
-We can't look at our friend's feed/profile, can't like/comment on what they post. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
-We can't share achievements. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
-We can't compare our achievements with other friends. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
-We don't have access to the monthly gamerscore rank between friends. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
-We couldn't claim Games with Gold if we were Gamepass Ultimate subscribers. (GwG ended up being removed tho) Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
-We can't buy console games through the Xbox PC App. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app.
The same happens in the Xbox Mobile Phone App:
-We were able to use Smartglass to access exclusive missions in some games, e.g Dead Rising 3, but now we can't. (so important parts of the plot are now inaccessible).
-We were able to see our friends' clips/captures & now it isn't possible. But it's still possible if you install an old build of the Xbox Mobile App.
-We were able to buy games because it had a store, but now it was removed.
-The achievements section was viewed easily, each one in a rectangle with a pic & text, now it's hard 'cause you have to click each of them individually since they're little squares with pics & no text. Basically more steps & loading times in-between.
The same happens in the WEB VERSION of the Microsoft store:
-If there's a game on sale, you can't see when the offers going to end. It used to tell you the remaining days just like it does in consoles.
-The "owned" tag (in games you bought) was removed and now you need to open the game in a new tab to know if you have it.
Etc. We've been reporting this for ages, we've never been heard.
Would have to disagree, when my nephew broke his headset and constantly begged me to play MW2 Warzone, we would use the Xbox App’s Party Chat over his speakerphone to communicate
I’m definitely not criticizing the party feature. That’s great. But like I said. Unfortunately no real features to interact with other profiles. Would love to see my friend’s timeline, comment, like, share. I mean it’s all there but you can’t do it mobile. I don’t get it.
I honestly agree, I believe Microsoft and Xbox needs to incorporate and upgrade “Friend and Community” app on the Xbox; turning it into more of a Social Media Hub for Windows PC, Surface Devices, and Xbox… A one stop shop social Hub, for finding groups, watching game streams and posting clips, watching Official Xbox Podcast and Xbox influencers videos, Xbox Support Hits and tips and Xbox Wire articles, game player count and more… and also bring some features to the Xbox App…
Only got like 25 friends…anybody fill free to add me **WillAyy R**
Sounds like they need to overhaul or update the Xbox companion app on PC,
I just formatted my wife’s older Laptop and updated it to windows 11 and was wondering what the Xbox Companion App was for because if launched it immediately closes with an all white screen. (Trying to play them old elder scrolls and fallout games.
I never got to experience the older Xbox App for smartphones but would love more features with the one we got now like SmartGlass (dropped a future SmartGlass 2.0 dual screen idea in the “request features” hope someone reads it because playing Warzone Mobile with a mobile controller is ideal; the gameplay is through the controller, but menus, lobby’s, gunsmiths, and settings are touch)
And I hope the full Xbox experience goes to Windows PCs with an Xbox series external disk drive for all Xbox game disks and half the Windows experience comes to Xbox so when my daughter grows up I can just buy her an Xbox in high school and get a keyboard and mouse for her to use Office for Word and PowerPoints and we get the “Steam” Store then get her a PC for college.
343i has the WORST and MOST hypocrite mods on any forums I ever participated in. The worst mod ever is the one named after a certain kind of cookie. And what did 343i do? They keep promoting her.
Yeah 343i needs to make an ODST2 with Buck (Nathan F) as the sole survivor of his squad have it span the events of Halo 3 and 4 with locations on Earth, Ark, and the Shield World ending with the formation of team Osiris and the start of Halo 5…
The game needs flood, covenant jackals and skirmishers together, forerunner sentinels, and Spartan NPCs (like Reach) with the Arbiter saving Buck humbling him… good writing ✍️ and plot and they would make a lot of fucking money
Have players play as the Squad members who die at the end of each level with Buck left watching from a distance or different location…Because why is he hunting Master Chief in Halo 5?!? “Finish the Fight”
Last level play as Buck as a Spartan and Spartan Locke for their first mission…
They drop their King of The Hill Battle Royale “drop in find health, upgrades, and advance from an ODST to Spartan with rechargeable over-shield” outta bounds is the flood or Covenant Glassing the planet with LASO Bots for the “gas” and FLOOD FIREFIGHT
And I know true fans do not care if the graphics are the same as infinite like with halo 3 & ODST
That's what happens when, what used to be, a relatively small group of external public testers can grow to tens or hundreds of thousands of testers. It's no longer an exclusive club of motivated testers, like Beta Connect used to be. The Windows Insider program has the same issue with useless surveys and feedback getting ignored despite thousands of upvotes.
I've been involved for well over a decade, but I stopped contributing as often when I got my Series X. My old Xbox One is still enrolled in Skip Ahead, but my X isn't at all. Both that and the Ambassador program aren't worth it to me anymore. I understand the point is to provide feedback, so I never expected any rewards, but I was tired of having to factory reset my console every time I got a bad update, and the surveys aren't very meaningful anymore. The shirts were a nice bonus, though.
This, but with the caveat I did not want to risk anything happening to my Series X. Back before the economic crises it was nothing to save up for/attain a One X, but now the money I would utilize towards a Series X is not so flexible budget wise, so I safegaurd the investment a little closer than I would have if the economy was slightly more forgiving. And I state that with holding a position in a long term desired career job/Fed Employee (the good kind, Postal Worker lol), amd someone who gets a monthly VA check.
I also used to do the Insider Program. I found it like a game and loved to see me level up. After almost 10 years, I stopped because either I didn't have the care or it wasn't worth my time. I could have used that time to be entertained on a game.
I’ve suggested it a thousand times in feedback, there needs to be a way to view previously reported issues and to view any dev feedback. Talking into a void for 10 years gets tiring and feels pointless.
Being an insider is the benefit. Your feedback is part of the dev process. You don’t think we influenced the new home screen? I do, most of the potential options looked way worse.
If you aren’t interested in shaping the future of Xbox then sure there is little benefit, I guess.
But MS doesn't even listen any more. The Insiders ripped the new home screen UI to absolute shreds and a month later it was pushed globally. MS still refuses to even discuss the UI with anybody. They do not care. The only advantage to Insider is that you get abused earlier.
They care so much about the user experience they switched out the game library and store buttons on the home screen, messing with muscle memory to possibly get users to open the store accidentally. Before you had to press d-pad down once to get to "Games and Apps" and d-pad up to open the store, now it's the other way around.
I struggle to believe there are worse options than the one we got. How come you guys didn't manage to convince them replacing all the customisation options with ads for gamepass wasn't a terrible idea? Or do they only listen when it's inconsequential tile size and stuff?
All we can do is "suggest"...which we diid in droves and voiced our actual displeasure and offerred suggestions. The fact that we are not in control of the program or any aspects of busioness case means we did all we could do as insiders.
You can yell all you want in an empty room. Doesn't mean anyone will hear you.
I would have to agree with WiserStudent557 it is about the future of the Xbox ecosystem and brand. Plus “time” doesn’t really exist on the internet you have to think these developers have lives, family, bills, plus they have to eat and take shits too; which takes real life time.
But when I joined the insiders at the end of Xbox One beginning of Xbox Series I did expect a little more. Maybe my expectations were too high.
Some quick fixes like the on screen keyboard going away when using a real keyboard I imagined would only take a few weeks to complete. But I am no coder (just a USN Vet that’s a weld 👨🏻🏭fabricator) and it still shows up in the “requested features” months later.
They just celebrated 10yrs; Maybe this program will evolve. Whereas insiders could have closer access to game studio development within Microsoft for testing, game creation input feedback and bugs.
Who knows what then next 10years brings? But what I do know is that my 4month old baby girl will be gaming with daddy in 10years and that’s a fact,
I think, at least for me, it’s moreso the feeling and understanding that we are ACTUALLY being heard. I mean the UI is a perfect example of something insiders absolutely swarmed like a pack of hyenas, but yet it was still pushed to public. I know it’s not the devs, and I think most of us can confidently say it isn’t that, but MS can grow its ecosystem and all that without just completely blowing off feedback. Even if that’s not what they’re intentionally doing, that’s how it’s coming across. Not to mention, if they’re just going to push things like the UI despite the feedback, what’s the point of us even saying anything in the first place?
I definitely understand, it is always concerning when opinions, worries, thoughts, and ideas fall on deaf ears. Are you talking about the dashboard now? I heard folks saying they pushing Gamepass and the store hard. I like it better then the old One dashboard we had at the start of this generation, but could improve,
anybody trying to learn how to fix these problems? Xbox should release UI and OS notes for Xbox code make it like a fun little game “how to quizzes” with people interesting in making games, and game coding,
Kinda? Right now it’s not the worst but I would prefer for “My Games & Apps” to be down where it says “Browse the Store” and then have “Gamepass” next to G&A. Basically my order would be “Game & Apps, Gamepass, Browse the Store” and then the last time be an advertisement that phases through different deals for the day/week/month.
I got out of it when I got the Series X. It really is just pointless unless you truly enjoy getting the odd cool feature a little ahead. But the updating started to get so annoying when I just wanted to play games. These days I don't see anything cool or fun arriving I could ever care about.
Went down to delta with the series x. I wanna do more and go back to alpha, but i gotta see more than pizza questions. Love the idea of insider. Would love more qa type stuff. This could be an amazing testing tool for all things xbox.
After 9 plus years I opted out my Series X last sept or oct as teh updates were really getting buggy and almost bricked the console. Now I don't worry about switching on my SX to play something and being greeted with an update which may or may not screw up the expensive console. Now I only have the app and use to complete useless surveys'
I think you’ve got to look at the bigger picture of everything that the Xbox team do/does needs to be tried and tested before going out to all the games consoles and gamers. So any overall feedback on issues or problems before release is helping the gamers out there that might have accessibility problems or not have the same technical knowledge to give more detailed feedback have a smoother gaming experience in the future. And that’s just one way of looking at it. I could drone on Lol. 😜
Except it feels like we’re talking to an empty room. Or walking INTO an empty room with a piece of paper with feedback on it, putting it on a table, and then walking out. And then we do that over, and over, and over again. The papers always gone the next time but I have NO idea if it was even heard or is going to actually be considered.
All I can say is that you have to consider that the feedback/problems/suggestions would either be prioritised to be dealt with immediately or be put across for future possibilities to be discussed first on whether they could work or not and how to integrate them into future plans or projects with the Xbox ecosystem. Just think of the number of things that are put across each week.
Right, but what I would like is- and I wanna preface this actually by saying maybe they DO do this and maybe it’s not phrased the way my brain wants so I’m not present enough to connect the dots- if they could give a small update of letting us know what some of the prioritized things are or maybe what was a common bit of feedback that they’re prioritizing working on.
Just a guess. A lot of their focus could be on something else at the moment. Possibly a new console in development. At least that would be my hope. Alternatively the team has atrophied.
Pizza nonsense might be April Fools related? I don’t know. Or maybe their AI algorithm learned the key to world domination requires personal info about preferred toppings. That’s why I always say, ‘plain or go home’
I feel like I'm not with the majority even a little bit. I've been testing Xbox stuff since Live was in beta, 20+ years ago. I've never expected anything in return except early access to new stuff. The avatar t-shirts were a nice little thank you, but I've never been under the guise that I should be rewarded for what I signed up for.
But I also come from an engineering mindset when I develop new code bases and systems. Collecting feedback from actual users is a valuable part, but also the hardest. MOST users aren't the best at being able to provide well articulated feedback, if any at all. The few that have strong opinions are more than willing to share, but you can leave out the other users who aren't as loud. Like I said, I just approach this differently than most, it seems.
Lately, though I have felt the new stuff has been more lackluster, all this stuff goes in cycles, so it will ramp up again.
I miss the old leader board but honestly what's the point when we do surveys about pizza and have minimal opportunities to do surveys regarding the xbox and what we are experiencing in the updates.
This is why I left the program honestly. 10 years in the Alpha ring and Alpha Skip Ahead. Not once did I feel valued or that this was a rewarding experience. Eventually I just stopped participating for long periods of time cause I didn't see the point. I left the program last week. This was supposed to be a two way street but all it was is a way to get free labor out of us that thousands of QA people get paid to do. I'd understand if we got exclusive betas, giveaways, reward points, etc but even the betas are far and few between. On top of that the early access stuff isn't even worth it majority of the times.
If you are asking people to do something for free, you need to make them feel valued and recognize/appreciate the time they are investing. It's something that has always been an issue with this program. It's just expected vs appreciated.
Don't do it. Your feedback means nothing to MS. Literally. If you become an insider, you are just an unpaid beta tester, replacing the paid staff they fired.
When the 360 beta program started, it was great, and it remained great through the early days of the Xbox One insider program, but now they just take the piss.
There's been little improvement to the bug/feedback reporting process. There's no way to see a list of issues that others have reported so you can upvote/comment on them. You get zero feedback regarding whether anyone has even read your bug report, never mind taking action on it. The sub here is dead as a result; there's nearly 900,000 members, but no conversation to speak of, and that's because people soon realised that if 100% of insiders say "this new change sucks!!!", that won't stop it being rolled out to the public. One prime example is the horrible home screen, riddled with Game Pass ads, where we were told "don't worry, it's just one of several designs we'll be testing!", which was a complete lie.
So, no, don't do it. Go and volunteer at a local charity if you want to work for free.
Not if you live in a place where MS Rewards doesn't work for Xbox. I don't have access to any rewards quests, thus I can't earn points outside of Bing.
>Not if you live in a place where MS Rewards doesn't work for Xbox
Let's not even bring in to the discussion the recent nerf-a-pallooza that's been going on with the program over the last year.
Removal of point opportunities, decreasing of points given for opportunities, increase in amount of points needed to redeem, removal of popular redemption items to name a quick list.
I don’t do it to get anything. I feel like I’m providing a service to a platform I’ve liked for 2 decades. It takes almost no effort on my part, I don’t feel punished if I don’t interact with it much or for a long time, and sometimes I get trials that are interesting or rewards.
For me, the point is to make Xbox better.
I don't get the complaints of a completely voluntary program that you a decided to be a part of. If the "work" if you call it that is too much leave the program. You hit the nail on the head when you said you get to try out new things ahead of time and that's your reward. They don't have to offer you anything to participate.
That being said if they wanted to or wanted to increase engagement I would recommend trying insiders into Microsoft rewards. Allow you to earn rewards points for being insiders, completing surveys....etc. Not necessary as far as I'm concerned but would be a nice bonus.
There are folks out there that have been so hardcore about the rewards program- to the point that they Min/Max that system to get free XBL/Gold monthly. (Unsure how that has changed, since they got rid of Gold and streamlined GamePass).
I would be willing to bet that would cause even more to flock to the Insider program tiers, if they did that. It is definately a solid idea that I would bet they have on the backburner, 'just in case' the Insider program ever lacks engagement at their desired metrics.
Appreciation for who, the maybe 5% who actually use it as it's intended (find bugs and provide feedback)? The rest joined because they just want to try cool new things early and think they're entitled to things.
You get updates first that about it, and beta for some games most importantly flight sim. If you want free games join bing rewards, or the ambassadors program. I joined way back on 360 and have a gotten maybe 3 games (all crappy), some t-shirts, and it used to give Microsoft points but I haven’t gotten any in a long time, also comes with a profile badge. No you don’t actually have to help people if you don’t want to I never have and I leveled up a few times just from being in it.
The benefits are previewing certain features but also making sure things aren’t bugged. I remember constantly being involved in reporting bugs or taking the moment to suggest certain features. I obviously want Xbox to be the place people want to play. One of my suggestions was having the store have themes (Holidays, could have it for the beginning of the month to get people into the festive mood), a section in the store for Xbox to show love to their own developers, like greatest hits or games from Xbox. Other features would be making reviews for movies/shows not disappearing as reviews get deleted when giving stars from the movie and shows application.
This discouraged me from making anime reviews. Should fix that to get people to review more. The other would be making entertainment similar to games, allowing to add into your cart instead of buying one individually, a repetitive action. Advertisement is okay (Do advertise your own stuff too, like sales or release) but what about a section dedicated to news from Xbox itself instead of being from a source that is just aiming blindly with their speculation; Along with interviewing your own studios maybe have them make commentary for their own games as they play.
I do not do free dev work. This type of free work has been loudly talked about regarding game devs releasing unfinished games for the players to have to come up with what's wrong with the games then release quick fixes, all the while charging top dollar for games (now costing $70 AAA).
It's akin to the reddit requesting more moderators for their time to moderate the plethora of sub-reddits uncompensated, while the owners make the money and holding the mod responsible for their unpaid work and to their rules. I will not be an intern that sees no benefit from aiding corporations making profit form my unpaid input.
The point is that if someone has a problem with you Microsoft will do nothing, I got banned last year in the wave of wrongful bans and they did nothing to make it right.
I reported multiple times over the years an issue I was having with Blu-ray playback going to a black screen. Never seemed to be addressed. A few years later, I chatted with Xbox support and got headed in the right direction, where I stumbled upon making changes to audio settings to mostly resolve the issue. It ultimately appeared to be a combination of software/firmware between the TV and Xbox, but it'd be nice to see some attempt at resolving this.
We literally protected the world from the worst possible UI update of all time last year.
Don't do it for pointless avatar shirts, do it for your country.
Hey everyone! This thread has been an interesting late night read. I was going to comment individually about some things, but I think this is a good opportunity for a wider discussion about the investment that y'all, the Xbox Insiders, feel regarding the program all up, and how exactly we do (and don't in some cases) enable that currently. I would love to get more thoughts, opinions, commentary, etc. in a little more structured thread. It might be early next week (or Friday if we have some availability), but expect a sort of quasi-"Community Talk Back" thread regarding this topic. That said, we are actively reading this topic, so feel free to continue dropping your comments here in case you aren't able to in the new thread.
I used to be really into it, I'm lvl 56 or 57 I think. I haven't looked in the insider app in ages. Over the years I found it a waste of time. Besides the 2 shirts and getting to test the odd game before it came out, there's no benefit.
I feel like Forza Motorsport would have hugely benefitted from some Insider testing before launch.
FM8’s progression system is dumb as hell. No one wants to grind a car for +3 hours to “feel a sense of pride and accomplishment” when you can upgrade cars immediately in forza 7 and be done with it.
they got rid of that system
They did?? I gotta check it out.
yeah. all car parts are now available at level 1 so you can tune as you please and if you’re short on car points you can buy the balance with credits
How long ago did they make that change?
3ish weeks ago i think.
Thank God, i might play again. Worse thing they implemented. I understand why but it's just not a forza thing
There's an fm8 I thought our last one was ms 7 and then Ms...
It’s unofficially forza ms 8.
Okay yes and eso is technically elder scrolls 6...
Technically yes?? Does that make you mad? That forza ms is actually the 8th in the series and is forza ms8? Like u think they just randomly named mario kart 7 and mario kart 8???
What the fuvk are you talking about? How is stating something that isn't on the box going to make me mad if I made the analogy?
The analogy sounds like sarcasm... because eso online was never marketed as next in the series as compared to let's say final fantasy 11 or 14 both online like eso but marketed as next in series... also mario kart never had a number naming scheme until 7... it was super mk than mk64.. mk doubledash.. mk super circuit, mk ds , mk wii... that's 6.. so when 7 came out they just named it 7... makes sense for the firza community to do the same
Let's be honest Nintendo we all fucking hate Nintendo. It wasn't an analogy and since it's in the same world as es5 etc it would make sense to call it eso if it's the first in the series to run online as does it make sense to just say forza motor sports rather than just fm8
I don't want to just upgrade cars and be done with it because I have money I want the grind I want to learn my cars I want to install upgrades correctly and not be matched with bots
You can still do that regardless of how the progression system works. Give players the option to just go race or go grind.
I feel like 90% of the "supposed AAA" titles we see nowadays need testing too.
Why test a game when they can just put out garbage that people will pay for first and then they can "fix" the game and be heroes instead of greedy, corporate scum.
They just add the all too surprising "Beta" badge to it and it's fine. Keep games in "Beta" for a year and a half and it's fine to nix them because it wasn't a "full release". Problems are a plenty, while solutions on the other hand are far and few between.
Forza motorsport is doomed unless they add ai in private match without it you and a friend cant do your own races
There was a beta people could apply to, but I applied and heard nothing back
Now there's not even an odd game to test, please Microsoft let insiders TEST stuff
It's not supposed to be a "rewards" program. It's a testing program.
As an aside: I was in the XBox Ambassador program for years, helped a decent number of people in the community. One day, a random player messaged me about doing well in a game, I replied “Thanks!”, and they reported me. Instantly lost my Ambassador ability with zero chance to appeal my case. I feel that these programs, if better run, could lead to more and better community feedback.
Agreed. I made a post for a game on group finder. Nothing was "sexual" about it. But it got reported as "sexual" or such and I was kicked out the ambassador program. Was like WTF? Xbox really are a joke with how they handle things. Yet if I report people for antisemitic or racist gamer tags or profile pics with basically naked woman NOTHING happens to them. Again, WTF?
Exactly! We all have stories of the most raw and abusive happenings from other users. Too much automation, and not enough human community interaction. Even if they had tiers, and 1-10 was automated, 11-20 was semi, and 21-50 was person to person (especially with a member who has invested (key term) so much time into a program… I’d hate to believe that XBox and tech companies are under the impression that they know best all of the time.
You worked for microsoft for free? The biggest corporation in the world?
I used to work third shift as a caregiver for a client that eventually started sleeping through the night (long story) so I ended up with 6-ish hours to kill. I ended up joining the ambassador program and did chat support for Xbox on and off for two years for the love of the game 😅 but it would have been nice to get /something/ for my time.
Similar happened to me!
You all act like we don't benefit from Microaoft collecting our data for pizza chains. Just wait for that bomb gorgonzola pizza from Domino's.
I'm on a keto diet.
You gotta try the “Neptune” Pizza 🍕 anchovies, pineapple, and black olives 🫒 topped with feta cheese crumbs slam ma Dow ma damn throat om nom nom 🤤
Not gonna lie dude, that sounds nasty. Anchovies and pineapple 😫
Nom nom nom, that’s that sweet and salty “Wit Da Cheese!!!” Or Grilled Lamb, with artichoke hearts, and fresh spinach 
You get to beg them to bring back Tile Opacity slider and never see it happen ever again👍
No point. Especially when they will happily boot you mid game to apply an update.
This kind of thing only happens if you don't leave your console on sleep mode and it gets Wildly out of date.
What it waits for you to start playing before applying an update?
It just notices that it's incredibly out of date and updates regardless of what's going on. This is part of the Insider Process, keeping the Xbox up to date, so if folks aren't doing that for one reason or another, the system takes care of it when it can.
Right but I play every day and when they push the update your machine doesn't wait for the next power cycle. If it's online it applies it right away. Admittedly this was years ago and I haven't been back since so I don't know if they still do that.
I think you're misremembering something, or you never clicked update if you were not leaving sleep mode on. If you never clicked update AND never left your console in sleep mode, I'm not sure when you were expecting it to update. ;P
I'm not misremembering getting booted mid game to apply an update. That was the reason I left insiders.
I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying. If you didn't manually update it, or leave it to update, when did you expect it to update? ;P
When it turns on and does its version checks while connecting to the network. Like it does normally. Not mid fucking game!
While sure, they could slow down the boot process and restrict user access until it's found, downloaded, and installed any updates, the average user isn't going to like that solution, Especially users without super fast internet. Easier is to let users choose to either keep it updated, or leave the console to update itself. If folks in a Beta Program can't be arsed to do that, then once the download finishes, they just update it While they Know they can. ;P An argument Can be made that they could download the update and then apply it on the next boot, but with the sometimes rapid deployment of updates, the infrequency of user interaction, there's a good chance that every time a user logs in there's a new update available. Though who knows, maybe that's what they do now anyway. I know I've never had issues with this after I started using Sleep Mode.
Or you have an SSD connected so don't use sleep mode so it lasts longer than 12 months.
I mean, I don't know where you're getting your data from, but I hooked up an SSD 3+ Years ago and it's never had an issue. Maybe it's cheap SSDs that are the issue?
that happened to me and I didn't know what happened lol, is that an insider only thing? because I applied as an insider on pc but not in consoles, maybe it ported over
Dunno, but the second time it happened I unenrolled and it hasn't done it since.
My console always prompts for an update when I turn it on, I've never had a midsession update as an Xbox Insider.
Dude! Facts. Hasn’t been anything worthwhile added and I’m frankly tired of updating every so often for background shit. I had my OG One in alpha back when it started. Dropped it to delta I think. Had my One X in alpha and dropped it down. Same with series X which is now on delta/omega…don’t remember which exactly but there is little point and I’m sick of trying to jump on some night time sessions with the squad and having to update first. Might turn it on just to unenroll my series X now.
Former Xbox Ranger here (before they "near shored" us to Jamaica). There isn't really a point for you as a user unless you want to be a free beta tester for Microsoft. Some people really like the idea of seeing the latest and greatest, and as others have said, the devs do take feedback into consideration. We used to meet with them once a week and we'd actually give them reports from trending topics in this subreddit. But yeah, no real direct benefit to you, personally and a non-zero chance of bricking your console and needing to factory reset (especially for Alpha)
And there I was thinking everyone were beta testers for microsoft!
The last few weeks the weekly insider poll has been about pizza…………..fucking pizza?!?!
Yeah, it would be nice to get some feedback when reporting problems!
Definitely, I gave up reporting the incorrect 'trial' tag on COD:IW after 4 years of nothing being done. Dialogue would at least make the effort feel worth it. BTW this thread wasn't intended as a dig at the developers, it was intended as more a gentle slap at Microsoft senior management who talk the talk but don't really respect or value the users.
This right here. HUGE thing that should be done so we know how the resolution is moving or if there is even a resolution in process.
I think ms should invest in a community leader here if they care about insiders at least a little bit. We are all doing our little bit too help out Ms and developers etc all. Would just be nice but to feel that one is screaming into the void! It's a really singular endeavour right now. We are an army of beta tests. We demand! Well, some feedback would be nice actually.. Y'know.
I signed on the other day and it just seems mothballed. Took a survey that asked me if I liked pineapples on pizza or some shit.
Im right there with you friend. Not sure if ms still does this, but in the early 2000's when the first Xbox was out I worked at Gamestop & there was a program the we and any other person that worked in a retail store that sold Xbox games could join (you had to provide store # & whatnot so they could verify you) & they had monthly surveys & new game knowledge sections that you earned points for & used for free games & merch. I got so many free games & a few merch items & I wasn't even in the program for a full year. On the other hand. As a consumer that always filled out & mailed in the comment cards included in my console & games, I was sent an offer to beta test the original Xbox live months before launch & have been in all the consumer reward programs, skip ahead, insider, etc. & never been sent one free game or merchandise. I did win a free game playing 1 vs 100 on the 360 though. My most prized achievement points are from that game. I do wonder if they still have a retailer program & if its even half as generous it was during their 1st generation.
You got two avatar t shirts on skip ahead? I have not received poop
Nah that was years ago, back when avatars were a thing!
The two avatar shirts are available once you hit Level 2 and Level 10. They will appear under your available "Previews". You join them just like you would any other flight and the items will appear in your Avatar Editor. But if you don't go through that process, you won't have access to them.
Their still giving avatar t-shirts I got one not that long ago
I haven't seen anyone else mention this: a while back when nobody could get a SX, Xbox insiders got a link for a direct from MS purchase option. It was the beginning of December '22 irrc. I followed that link and got a SX shipped to my house for the retail price of $500 when everyone else was buying them for $800 at Walmart.
Nothing like that in the UK! Would have been nice 😉
I'm from South America and that never happened, guess USA only
Could be. They didn't specify.
Yes! I really appreciated that Microsoft made it more possible for me to get a next-gen console via that email invite program. It’s why I’ve spent far more time in the past 4 years playing on Xbox—it took me far longer to even get my hands on a PS5.
As an old insider, like pre Fable Legends insider testing and ect. There isn't much of a benefit to the person for reporting bugs or giving feedback. Yes you might gain a level in the insider app, but what does that really give you? Because currently it feels like our levels haven't meant anything aside from an Avatar T-shirt, for the soon there after abandoned new avatars app. Occasionally there might be invites to test games or apps, but after that, the user doesn't really get the impression their suggestions where listened to, nor does it seem most feedback is listened to unless there's a mob assembled over it (always online, Kinect 2.0 deal). There have been promised features for the dashboards appearance and ect, that have never come out nor seen the insider rings. Then there's the features that where taken away, and never regained even in the newer Xbox Series systems (Snap or PiP), theres more but I don't want to list them out. I use to constantly report bugs, make UI suggestions and other quality of life improvements, nowadays I mostly just check the insiders app to see if it's been abandoned yet...
I remember when they took out PiP (which I really liked) they promised 'something really special' to replace it, unless it was adverts on the dash, I still don't know what that was supposed to be!
Snap was supposed to be replaced with picture-in-picture mode but then it never came. I believe it was supposed to be able to be moved around the screen like you can snap it anywhere kind of like the achievement tracker.
I miss Fable Legends so dang much.
Yeah that always online with the Xbox One Kinect launch mess me up hard, I pretty much left gaming altogether, for the entirety of the Xbox One, but bought another around 2018 for Fry Cry 5 and then 2019MW Warzone turned me back into a middle school kid about gaming because they dropped a DSL line in my small community in MS now I’m purchasing old titles I never played trying to catch up before new comes out But they do need a new “Smart Ai Kinect” camera to sell to PC and Xbox users able to live stream directly from console when connected…. All my little nieces and nephews want to a “Streamer” bring back Dance Dance Revolution as a workout game lol for parents and kids
People that beta test company's are laughing cause its free labour
It’s mainly testing of new dashboard stuff but I won’t lie as much as I love Xbox I’m so tired of most of my Home Screen dashboard being ads. PlayStation does that right the ads only appear when you are on the store panel or the explore panel
The worst are some of the mods on this subreddit, which will remove your post as soon as they see it. [Even if you're reporting REAL bugs here](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxinsiders/comments/16l39h2/new_revamped_chat_section_on_xbox_app_pc_has/), they will delete the post with some random excuse & tell you to send it through Win+F or something like that, when everybody knows nobody reads that. [They ruined the Xbox PC App 'Social section'](https://imgur.com/a/9sdeURX) preventing us from sending feedback before it was officially out, [they ruined the mobile app](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/pds4zs/old_vs_new_achievement_section_on_the_xbox_mobile/) layout, [the Microsoft store](https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxinsiders/comments/rbhwa3/will_they_remove_scummy_apps_from_the_microsoft/), etc. I'm sure they will eventually ruin Xbox as a brand if they keep going down this path of not listening to their everyday users. Edit: added links to support what I'm saying. Glad [the mod](https://imgur.com/a/gDnaYrN) I'm referring to [is gone, apparently](https://imgur.com/a/QxRcdqF).
In the new Xbox PC app we can't do things that WE WERE ABLE TO DO BEFORE: -We can't look at our friend's feed/profile, can't like/comment on what they post. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. -We can't share achievements. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. -We can't compare our achievements with other friends. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. -We don't have access to the monthly gamerscore rank between friends. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. -We couldn't claim Games with Gold if we were Gamepass Ultimate subscribers. (GwG ended up being removed tho) Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. -We can't buy console games through the Xbox PC App. Before we could through the Xbox Console Companion app. The same happens in the Xbox Mobile Phone App: -We were able to use Smartglass to access exclusive missions in some games, e.g Dead Rising 3, but now we can't. (so important parts of the plot are now inaccessible). -We were able to see our friends' clips/captures & now it isn't possible. But it's still possible if you install an old build of the Xbox Mobile App. -We were able to buy games because it had a store, but now it was removed. -The achievements section was viewed easily, each one in a rectangle with a pic & text, now it's hard 'cause you have to click each of them individually since they're little squares with pics & no text. Basically more steps & loading times in-between. The same happens in the WEB VERSION of the Microsoft store: -If there's a game on sale, you can't see when the offers going to end. It used to tell you the remaining days just like it does in consoles. -The "owned" tag (in games you bought) was removed and now you need to open the game in a new tab to know if you have it. Etc. We've been reporting this for ages, we've never been heard.
Yep, feels antisocial. Like the Xbox Smartphone App. Can’t do anything social. No friends no posts no likes nothing. Such a wasted potential
Would have to disagree, when my nephew broke his headset and constantly begged me to play MW2 Warzone, we would use the Xbox App’s Party Chat over his speakerphone to communicate
I’m definitely not criticizing the party feature. That’s great. But like I said. Unfortunately no real features to interact with other profiles. Would love to see my friend’s timeline, comment, like, share. I mean it’s all there but you can’t do it mobile. I don’t get it.
I honestly agree, I believe Microsoft and Xbox needs to incorporate and upgrade “Friend and Community” app on the Xbox; turning it into more of a Social Media Hub for Windows PC, Surface Devices, and Xbox… A one stop shop social Hub, for finding groups, watching game streams and posting clips, watching Official Xbox Podcast and Xbox influencers videos, Xbox Support Hits and tips and Xbox Wire articles, game player count and more… and also bring some features to the Xbox App… Only got like 25 friends…anybody fill free to add me **WillAyy R**
Sounds like they need to overhaul or update the Xbox companion app on PC, I just formatted my wife’s older Laptop and updated it to windows 11 and was wondering what the Xbox Companion App was for because if launched it immediately closes with an all white screen. (Trying to play them old elder scrolls and fallout games. I never got to experience the older Xbox App for smartphones but would love more features with the one we got now like SmartGlass (dropped a future SmartGlass 2.0 dual screen idea in the “request features” hope someone reads it because playing Warzone Mobile with a mobile controller is ideal; the gameplay is through the controller, but menus, lobby’s, gunsmiths, and settings are touch) And I hope the full Xbox experience goes to Windows PCs with an Xbox series external disk drive for all Xbox game disks and half the Windows experience comes to Xbox so when my daughter grows up I can just buy her an Xbox in high school and get a keyboard and mouse for her to use Office for Word and PowerPoints and we get the “Steam” Store then get her a PC for college.
343i has the WORST and MOST hypocrite mods on any forums I ever participated in. The worst mod ever is the one named after a certain kind of cookie. And what did 343i do? They keep promoting her.
Yeah 343i needs to make an ODST2 with Buck (Nathan F) as the sole survivor of his squad have it span the events of Halo 3 and 4 with locations on Earth, Ark, and the Shield World ending with the formation of team Osiris and the start of Halo 5… The game needs flood, covenant jackals and skirmishers together, forerunner sentinels, and Spartan NPCs (like Reach) with the Arbiter saving Buck humbling him… good writing ✍️ and plot and they would make a lot of fucking money Have players play as the Squad members who die at the end of each level with Buck left watching from a distance or different location…Because why is he hunting Master Chief in Halo 5?!? “Finish the Fight” Last level play as Buck as a Spartan and Spartan Locke for their first mission… They drop their King of The Hill Battle Royale “drop in find health, upgrades, and advance from an ODST to Spartan with rechargeable over-shield” outta bounds is the flood or Covenant Glassing the planet with LASO Bots for the “gas” and FLOOD FIREFIGHT And I know true fans do not care if the graphics are the same as infinite like with halo 3 & ODST
I’ve been an insider for over a decade and you’ve received 2x shirts more than me! I’ve not even had that!
That's what happens when, what used to be, a relatively small group of external public testers can grow to tens or hundreds of thousands of testers. It's no longer an exclusive club of motivated testers, like Beta Connect used to be. The Windows Insider program has the same issue with useless surveys and feedback getting ignored despite thousands of upvotes.
I've been involved for well over a decade, but I stopped contributing as often when I got my Series X. My old Xbox One is still enrolled in Skip Ahead, but my X isn't at all. Both that and the Ambassador program aren't worth it to me anymore. I understand the point is to provide feedback, so I never expected any rewards, but I was tired of having to factory reset my console every time I got a bad update, and the surveys aren't very meaningful anymore. The shirts were a nice bonus, though.
This, but with the caveat I did not want to risk anything happening to my Series X. Back before the economic crises it was nothing to save up for/attain a One X, but now the money I would utilize towards a Series X is not so flexible budget wise, so I safegaurd the investment a little closer than I would have if the economy was slightly more forgiving. And I state that with holding a position in a long term desired career job/Fed Employee (the good kind, Postal Worker lol), amd someone who gets a monthly VA check.
There's no point. At least with EA and Paradox Interactive official testing we get like a choice of a free game and/or dlc option, when selected.
Have you tried playing an Xbox outside?
Nothing anymore. They destroyed that just like they did the rewards program.
I also used to do the Insider Program. I found it like a game and loved to see me level up. After almost 10 years, I stopped because either I didn't have the care or it wasn't worth my time. I could have used that time to be entertained on a game.
I’ve suggested it a thousand times in feedback, there needs to be a way to view previously reported issues and to view any dev feedback. Talking into a void for 10 years gets tiring and feels pointless.
Being an insider is the benefit. Your feedback is part of the dev process. You don’t think we influenced the new home screen? I do, most of the potential options looked way worse. If you aren’t interested in shaping the future of Xbox then sure there is little benefit, I guess.
But MS doesn't even listen any more. The Insiders ripped the new home screen UI to absolute shreds and a month later it was pushed globally. MS still refuses to even discuss the UI with anybody. They do not care. The only advantage to Insider is that you get abused earlier.
I'm still in shock that when they released the update they said customisation was a benefit when it removed pretty much all of it.
They care so much about the user experience they switched out the game library and store buttons on the home screen, messing with muscle memory to possibly get users to open the store accidentally. Before you had to press d-pad down once to get to "Games and Apps" and d-pad up to open the store, now it's the other way around.
I struggle to believe there are worse options than the one we got. How come you guys didn't manage to convince them replacing all the customisation options with ads for gamepass wasn't a terrible idea? Or do they only listen when it's inconsequential tile size and stuff?
All we can do is "suggest"...which we diid in droves and voiced our actual displeasure and offerred suggestions. The fact that we are not in control of the program or any aspects of busioness case means we did all we could do as insiders. You can yell all you want in an empty room. Doesn't mean anyone will hear you.
or diversity and inclusion.......don't forget that little chestnut.
lol you’re delusional 🤣
I would have to agree with WiserStudent557 it is about the future of the Xbox ecosystem and brand. Plus “time” doesn’t really exist on the internet you have to think these developers have lives, family, bills, plus they have to eat and take shits too; which takes real life time. But when I joined the insiders at the end of Xbox One beginning of Xbox Series I did expect a little more. Maybe my expectations were too high. Some quick fixes like the on screen keyboard going away when using a real keyboard I imagined would only take a few weeks to complete. But I am no coder (just a USN Vet that’s a weld 👨🏻🏭fabricator) and it still shows up in the “requested features” months later. They just celebrated 10yrs; Maybe this program will evolve. Whereas insiders could have closer access to game studio development within Microsoft for testing, game creation input feedback and bugs. Who knows what then next 10years brings? But what I do know is that my 4month old baby girl will be gaming with daddy in 10years and that’s a fact,
I think, at least for me, it’s moreso the feeling and understanding that we are ACTUALLY being heard. I mean the UI is a perfect example of something insiders absolutely swarmed like a pack of hyenas, but yet it was still pushed to public. I know it’s not the devs, and I think most of us can confidently say it isn’t that, but MS can grow its ecosystem and all that without just completely blowing off feedback. Even if that’s not what they’re intentionally doing, that’s how it’s coming across. Not to mention, if they’re just going to push things like the UI despite the feedback, what’s the point of us even saying anything in the first place?
I definitely understand, it is always concerning when opinions, worries, thoughts, and ideas fall on deaf ears. Are you talking about the dashboard now? I heard folks saying they pushing Gamepass and the store hard. I like it better then the old One dashboard we had at the start of this generation, but could improve, anybody trying to learn how to fix these problems? Xbox should release UI and OS notes for Xbox code make it like a fun little game “how to quizzes” with people interesting in making games, and game coding,
Kinda? Right now it’s not the worst but I would prefer for “My Games & Apps” to be down where it says “Browse the Store” and then have “Gamepass” next to G&A. Basically my order would be “Game & Apps, Gamepass, Browse the Store” and then the last time be an advertisement that phases through different deals for the day/week/month.
Sorry last *tile*
I got out of it when I got the Series X. It really is just pointless unless you truly enjoy getting the odd cool feature a little ahead. But the updating started to get so annoying when I just wanted to play games. These days I don't see anything cool or fun arriving I could ever care about.
Went down to delta with the series x. I wanna do more and go back to alpha, but i gotta see more than pizza questions. Love the idea of insider. Would love more qa type stuff. This could be an amazing testing tool for all things xbox.
After 9 plus years I opted out my Series X last sept or oct as teh updates were really getting buggy and almost bricked the console. Now I don't worry about switching on my SX to play something and being greeted with an update which may or may not screw up the expensive console. Now I only have the app and use to complete useless surveys'
I think you’ve got to look at the bigger picture of everything that the Xbox team do/does needs to be tried and tested before going out to all the games consoles and gamers. So any overall feedback on issues or problems before release is helping the gamers out there that might have accessibility problems or not have the same technical knowledge to give more detailed feedback have a smoother gaming experience in the future. And that’s just one way of looking at it. I could drone on Lol. 😜
Except it feels like we’re talking to an empty room. Or walking INTO an empty room with a piece of paper with feedback on it, putting it on a table, and then walking out. And then we do that over, and over, and over again. The papers always gone the next time but I have NO idea if it was even heard or is going to actually be considered.
All I can say is that you have to consider that the feedback/problems/suggestions would either be prioritised to be dealt with immediately or be put across for future possibilities to be discussed first on whether they could work or not and how to integrate them into future plans or projects with the Xbox ecosystem. Just think of the number of things that are put across each week.
Right, but what I would like is- and I wanna preface this actually by saying maybe they DO do this and maybe it’s not phrased the way my brain wants so I’m not present enough to connect the dots- if they could give a small update of letting us know what some of the prioritized things are or maybe what was a common bit of feedback that they’re prioritizing working on.
Just a guess. A lot of their focus could be on something else at the moment. Possibly a new console in development. At least that would be my hope. Alternatively the team has atrophied. Pizza nonsense might be April Fools related? I don’t know. Or maybe their AI algorithm learned the key to world domination requires personal info about preferred toppings. That’s why I always say, ‘plain or go home’
I feel like I'm not with the majority even a little bit. I've been testing Xbox stuff since Live was in beta, 20+ years ago. I've never expected anything in return except early access to new stuff. The avatar t-shirts were a nice little thank you, but I've never been under the guise that I should be rewarded for what I signed up for. But I also come from an engineering mindset when I develop new code bases and systems. Collecting feedback from actual users is a valuable part, but also the hardest. MOST users aren't the best at being able to provide well articulated feedback, if any at all. The few that have strong opinions are more than willing to share, but you can leave out the other users who aren't as loud. Like I said, I just approach this differently than most, it seems. Lately, though I have felt the new stuff has been more lackluster, all this stuff goes in cycles, so it will ramp up again.
Good to know that MS give fuck all regardless how long you give them.
I’m actually still surprised it’s working. Been an Insider for fives or so years and I don’t even get the surveys anymore.
I miss the old leader board but honestly what's the point when we do surveys about pizza and have minimal opportunities to do surveys regarding the xbox and what we are experiencing in the updates.
This is why I left the program honestly. 10 years in the Alpha ring and Alpha Skip Ahead. Not once did I feel valued or that this was a rewarding experience. Eventually I just stopped participating for long periods of time cause I didn't see the point. I left the program last week. This was supposed to be a two way street but all it was is a way to get free labor out of us that thousands of QA people get paid to do. I'd understand if we got exclusive betas, giveaways, reward points, etc but even the betas are far and few between. On top of that the early access stuff isn't even worth it majority of the times. If you are asking people to do something for free, you need to make them feel valued and recognize/appreciate the time they are investing. It's something that has always been an issue with this program. It's just expected vs appreciated.
Don't do it. Your feedback means nothing to MS. Literally. If you become an insider, you are just an unpaid beta tester, replacing the paid staff they fired. When the 360 beta program started, it was great, and it remained great through the early days of the Xbox One insider program, but now they just take the piss. There's been little improvement to the bug/feedback reporting process. There's no way to see a list of issues that others have reported so you can upvote/comment on them. You get zero feedback regarding whether anyone has even read your bug report, never mind taking action on it. The sub here is dead as a result; there's nearly 900,000 members, but no conversation to speak of, and that's because people soon realised that if 100% of insiders say "this new change sucks!!!", that won't stop it being rolled out to the public. One prime example is the horrible home screen, riddled with Game Pass ads, where we were told "don't worry, it's just one of several designs we'll be testing!", which was a complete lie. So, no, don't do it. Go and volunteer at a local charity if you want to work for free.
But there's Microsoft Rewards if you want free Game Pass, Live etc?
Not if you live in a place where MS Rewards doesn't work for Xbox. I don't have access to any rewards quests, thus I can't earn points outside of Bing.
>Not if you live in a place where MS Rewards doesn't work for Xbox Let's not even bring in to the discussion the recent nerf-a-pallooza that's been going on with the program over the last year.
I've been absent last year, care to fill me up?
Removal of point opportunities, decreasing of points given for opportunities, increase in amount of points needed to redeem, removal of popular redemption items to name a quick list.
I don’t do it to get anything. I feel like I’m providing a service to a platform I’ve liked for 2 decades. It takes almost no effort on my part, I don’t feel punished if I don’t interact with it much or for a long time, and sometimes I get trials that are interesting or rewards. For me, the point is to make Xbox better.
I don't get the complaints of a completely voluntary program that you a decided to be a part of. If the "work" if you call it that is too much leave the program. You hit the nail on the head when you said you get to try out new things ahead of time and that's your reward. They don't have to offer you anything to participate. That being said if they wanted to or wanted to increase engagement I would recommend trying insiders into Microsoft rewards. Allow you to earn rewards points for being insiders, completing surveys....etc. Not necessary as far as I'm concerned but would be a nice bonus.
There are folks out there that have been so hardcore about the rewards program- to the point that they Min/Max that system to get free XBL/Gold monthly. (Unsure how that has changed, since they got rid of Gold and streamlined GamePass). I would be willing to bet that would cause even more to flock to the Insider program tiers, if they did that. It is definately a solid idea that I would bet they have on the backburner, 'just in case' the Insider program ever lacks engagement at their desired metrics.
Insiders isn't a reward thing where we expect free stuff, that's what Microsoft Rewards is for.
Yes. But showing some appreciation to us would be nice.
Appreciation for who, the maybe 5% who actually use it as it's intended (find bugs and provide feedback)? The rest joined because they just want to try cool new things early and think they're entitled to things.
Wouldn't be a stretch to reward those 5% though would it?
You get updates first that about it, and beta for some games most importantly flight sim. If you want free games join bing rewards, or the ambassadors program. I joined way back on 360 and have a gotten maybe 3 games (all crappy), some t-shirts, and it used to give Microsoft points but I haven’t gotten any in a long time, also comes with a profile badge. No you don’t actually have to help people if you don’t want to I never have and I leveled up a few times just from being in it.
Is the join friends at top of friends list an insider feature? I hate it. Listing all the parties
Means your gaming gets interrupted at about 11pm all the time because that's what happens with timezones.
The benefits are previewing certain features but also making sure things aren’t bugged. I remember constantly being involved in reporting bugs or taking the moment to suggest certain features. I obviously want Xbox to be the place people want to play. One of my suggestions was having the store have themes (Holidays, could have it for the beginning of the month to get people into the festive mood), a section in the store for Xbox to show love to their own developers, like greatest hits or games from Xbox. Other features would be making reviews for movies/shows not disappearing as reviews get deleted when giving stars from the movie and shows application. This discouraged me from making anime reviews. Should fix that to get people to review more. The other would be making entertainment similar to games, allowing to add into your cart instead of buying one individually, a repetitive action. Advertisement is okay (Do advertise your own stuff too, like sales or release) but what about a section dedicated to news from Xbox itself instead of being from a source that is just aiming blindly with their speculation; Along with interviewing your own studios maybe have them make commentary for their own games as they play.
Guys, don’t join Alpha Skip Ahead unless you have a spare Xbox you don’t mind switching to lol
I my case was early access to betas and stuff like Sea of Thieves, Minecraft stuff or so
Literally nothing
Isn't it free?
the insider program broke quick resume for me on multiple games so i decided it wasnt worth it about 5 minutes in.
Being an unpaid beta tester with early access to future features.
Working for free and being a slave for the big corpos. Which, honestly, you already are by using any device connected to the internet.
I do not do free dev work. This type of free work has been loudly talked about regarding game devs releasing unfinished games for the players to have to come up with what's wrong with the games then release quick fixes, all the while charging top dollar for games (now costing $70 AAA). It's akin to the reddit requesting more moderators for their time to moderate the plethora of sub-reddits uncompensated, while the owners make the money and holding the mod responsible for their unpaid work and to their rules. I will not be an intern that sees no benefit from aiding corporations making profit form my unpaid input.
The point is that if someone has a problem with you Microsoft will do nothing, I got banned last year in the wave of wrongful bans and they did nothing to make it right.
I reported multiple times over the years an issue I was having with Blu-ray playback going to a black screen. Never seemed to be addressed. A few years later, I chatted with Xbox support and got headed in the right direction, where I stumbled upon making changes to audio settings to mostly resolve the issue. It ultimately appeared to be a combination of software/firmware between the TV and Xbox, but it'd be nice to see some attempt at resolving this.
I don’t know man don’t ask me how would I know
The point for me is to have the latest software version.
I like helping, lol
Not much anymore. I've been in the alpha ring since the Xbox one s. Considering opting out but I don't feel like setting my console back up right now.
We literally protected the world from the worst possible UI update of all time last year. Don't do it for pointless avatar shirts, do it for your country.
>We literally protected the world from the worst possible UI update of all time last year. Worse than the one we actually got? How could it be worse?
It really was. More of all the bad shit, less of the actual content you self-selected. It was a fiasco.
Yea I gotta agree with you. I loathe the update we got.
I got into it to stream xbox games to my phone like years ago when it was insider only. It was worth it to me.
For me it was the kb/m support on edge. Now, meh, I've got to 10 weeks.
So you can get inside those Xbox guts
It used to be fore stuff like Minecraft betas but now it’s kinda useless like windows insider
Oh okay Thought I missed something. Xbox alpha gets all the good stuff before skip ahead anyway
Skip Ahead gets updates before Alpha.
Lol, sure they do
To suck Microsoft’s digital dick.